Effects of coastal eutrophication on the spawning grounds of the Baltic herring in the SW Archipelago of Finland

In the last 14 years, trapnet catches of the Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras L.) have decreased drastically in the inner zones of the bays studied, but increased in the outer zones in the sea area of Turku, SW Finland. We deduce that the reasons for the decrease of catches have been eutrophication and sedimentation of the bays. The spawning grounds of the Baltic herring were studied by SCUBA-diving in the sea area of Turku in 1981-86. We studied 134 locations but found eggs in only 20 locations. Herring did not lay eggs on all suitable grounds, but regularly and intensively used some few locations from year to year. The most important spawning grounds were situated in the outer zones of the bays. We found eggs at 0-8 meters depth. In the inner parts of the bays, we did not find eggs with the exception of one shore, which is kept free of sediments by water currents. The spawning grounds comprised mainly sand and gravel. Most of them were covered by vegetation. Eggs were attached to Cladophora glomerata, Potamogeton perfoliatus, and red algae Furcellaria Jumbricalis and Phyllophora truncata. In the innermost zones of the bays the original littoral hard bottoms have changed to soft, muddy bottoms and consequently no eggs could be found there

Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI associates with neonate local and distal functional connectivity of the left superior frontal gyrus

Maternal obesity/overweight during pregnancy has reached epidemic proportions and has been linked with adverse outcomes for the offspring, including cognitive impairment and increased risk for neuropsychiatric disorders. Prior neuroimaging investigations have reported widespread aberrant functional connectivity and white matter tract abnormalities in neonates born to obese mothers. Here we explored whether maternal pre-pregnancy adiposity is associated with alterations in local neuronal synchrony and distal connectivity in the neonate brain. 21 healthy mother-neonate dyads from uncomplicated pregnancies were included in this study (age at scanning 26.14 +/- 6.28 days, 12 male). The neonates were scanned with a 6-min resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) during natural sleep. Regional homogeneity (ReHo) maps were computed from obtained rs-fMRI data. Multiple regression analysis was performed to assess the association of pre-pregnancy maternal body-mass-index (BMI) and ReHo. Seed-based connectivity analysis with multiple regression was subsequently performed with seed-ROI derived from ReHo analysis. Maternal adiposity measured by pre-pregnancy BMI was positively associated with neonate ReHo values within the left superior frontal gyrus (SFG) (FWE-corrected p < 0.005). Additionally, we found both positive and negative associations (p < 0.05, FWE-corrected) for maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and seed-based connectivity between left SFG and prefrontal, amygdalae, basal ganglia and insular regions. Our results imply that maternal pre-pregnancy BMI associates with local and distal functional connectivity within the neonate left superior frontal gyrus. These findings add to the evidence that increased maternal pre-pregnancy BMI has a programming influence on the developing neonate brain functional networks

Resting-state networks of the neonate brain identified using independent component analysis

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) has been successfully used to probe the intrinsic functional organization of the brain and to study brain development. Here, we implemented a combination of individual and group independent component analysis (ICA) of FSL on a 6-min resting-state data set acquired from 21 naturally sleeping term-born (age 26 +/- 6.7 d), healthy neonates to investigate the emerging functional resting-state networks (RSNs). In line with the previous literature, we found evidence of sensorimotor, auditory/language, visual, cerebellar, thalmic, parietal, prefrontal, anterior cingulate as well as dorsal and ventral aspects of the default-mode-network. Additionally, we identified RSNs in frontal, parietal, and temporal regions that have not been previously described in this age group and correspond to the canonical RSNs established in adults. Importantly, we found that careful ICA-based denoising of fMRI data increased the number of networks identified with group-ICA, whereas the degree of spatial smoothing did not change the number of identified networks. Our results show that the infant brain has an established set of RSNs soon after birth

Maternal Pregnancy-Related Anxiety Is Associated With Sexually Dimorphic Alterations in Amygdala Volume in 4-Year-Old Children

Prenatal stress is associated with child behavioral outcomes increasing susceptibility for psychiatric disorders in later life. Altered fetal brain development might partly mediate this association, as some studies suggest. With this study, we investigated the relation between prenatal stress, child's brain structure and behavioral problems. The association between self-reported maternal pregnancy-related anxiety (PRAQ-R2 questionnaire, second and third trimester) and brain gray matter volume was probed in 27 4-year-old children (13 female). Voxel based morphometry was applied with an age-matched template in SPM for the whole-brain analyses, and amygdala volume was assessed with manual segmentation. Possible pre- and postnatal confounders, such as maternal depression and anxiety among others, were controlled for. Child behavioral problems were assessed with the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire by maternal report. We found a significant interaction effect of pregnancy-related anxiety and child's sex on child's amygdala volume, i.e., higher pregnancy-related anxiety in the second trimester was related to significantly greater left relative amygdala volume in girls compared to boys. Further exploratory analyses yielded that both maternal pregnancy-related anxiety and child's amygdala volume are related to child emotional and behavioral difficulties: While higher pregnancy-related anxiety was associated with more emotional symptoms, peer relationship problems and overall child difficulties, greater left amygdala volume was related to less of these child difficulties and might partly mediate sex-specific associations between pregnancy-related anxiety and child behavioral difficulties. Our data suggest that maternal prenatal distress leads to sexually dimorphic structural changes in the offspring's limbic system and that these changes are also linked to behavioral difficulties. Our results provide further support for the notion that prenatal stress impacts child development

Factors controlling the occurrence of Furcellaria lumbicalis (Huds.) Lamour. and Phyllophora truncata (Pallas) Zinova in the upper littoral of the Archipelago of SW Finland

The influence of eutrophication on the occurrence of the red algae Furcellaria lumbricalis and Phyllophora truncata was studied in the sea area of Turku. Due to increased sediment load and planktonic production, light penetration in the water has decreased in the northern parts of the study area. Furthermore, the quality of the sea bottom has changed. Plots of 1 m2 (N = 100} in the upper littoral zone (0.5-6 m} were studied by SCUBA diving, in order to investigate the factors controlling the occurrence of the red algae. Two transects were situated in the eutrophicated area, and two in the reference area. In the plots, the percentage cover of each plant species and of Mytilus edulis was documented, and the Secchi disc visibility and depth was measured. The numerical data were analyzed by correlation analysis and stepwise multiple regression analysis (BMDP2R}. In the eutrophicated area, abiotic factors (percentage cover of plain bottom and bottom quality} explained 81.28 % of the variation of red algae cover. In the reference area, the biotic factors (total number of species and Mytilus cover in %} were the most important factors, explaining 66.4 % of red algae cover

Fatty acid composition and lipid content in the copepod Limnocalanus macrurus during summer in the southern Bothnian Sea

Abstract The lipid reserves and occurrence of the cold-stenothermic, omnivorous copepod Limnocalanus macrurus were studied in the Bothnian Sea (northern Baltic Sea) during spring and summer 2013–2014 with a special emphasis on the fatty acid composition of adults and their potential food. The individual total wax ester (WE) content, determined from the size of oil sacs in the prosoma, ranged on average from 1.3 to 2.6 µg, and showed a decreasing trend towards September. Lipids were dominated by fatty acids 16:0, 18:1(n-9), 18:2(n-6), 20:5(n-3) and 22:6(n-6), forming 56–61% of total fatty acids in June–September. Decreasing abundance of adults and reduction of the lipid storage implied that during summer adults suffered from starvation and, as a result, became eliminated from the population. The lipid content and dietary fatty acid markers suggested that in May, adult L. macrurus utilized the phytoplankton bloom, consisting mainly of diatoms and dinoflagellates, but later, during July–September, consumed either algae or heterotrophic organisms sinking from upper water layers or crustaceans inhabiting the same deeper water layers as L. macrurus. In the face of the climate change, the rising temperatures may force L. macrurus permanently to deeper water levels. If also the food resources are limited, we conclude that the summer season may act as a bottleneck limiting the propagation of L. macrurus and having implications further along the food web